Table A-21-1. Percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in 2- or 4-year colleges the October immediately following high school completion, by family income: 1972

Student Effort and Educational Progress: Tables

Transition to College

Table A-21-1. Percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in 2- or 4-year colleges the October immediately following high school completion, by family income: 1972–2007

		Low				Gap between High and
Year	Total	Annual	Moving average¹	Middle	High	Low²	Middle
1972	49.2	26.1	23.2	45.2	63.8	40.6	18.6
1973	46.6	20.3	23.2	40.9	64.4	41.2	23.5
1974	47.6	—	†	—	—	†	†
1975	50.7	31.2	34.7	46.2	64.5	29.8	18.3
1976	48.8	39.1	32.3	40.5	63.0	30.7	22.4

1977	50.6	27.7	32.4	44.2	66.3	33.9	22.0
1978	50.1	31.4	29.8	44.3	64.0	34.2	19.6
1979	49.3	30.5	31.6	43.2	63.2	31.6	19.9
1980	49.3	32.5	32.2	42.5	65.2	33.0	22.8
1981	53.9	33.6	32.9	49.2	67.6	34.7	18.4

1982	50.6	32.8	33.6	41.7	70.9	37.2	29.2
1983	52.7	34.6	34.0	45.2	70.3	36.4	25.1
1984	55.2	34.5	36.3	48.4	74.0	37.7	25.5
1985	57.7	40.2	35.9	50.6	74.6	38.6	24.0
1986	53.8	33.9	36.8	48.5	71.0	34.3	22.6

1987	56.8	36.9	37.6	50.0	73.8	36.2	23.9
1988	58.9	42.5	42.4	54.7	72.8	30.5	18.1
1989	59.6	48.1	45.6	55.4	70.7	25	15.2
1990	60.1	46.7	44.8	54.4	76.6	31.8	22.2
1991	62.5	39.5	42.2	58.4	78.2	36.0	19.8

1992	61.9	40.9	43.6	57.0	79.0	35.5	22.0
1993	62.6	50.4	44.7	56.9	79.3	34.6	22.4
1994	61.9	43.3	42.0	57.8	77.9	35.9	20.1
1995	61.9	34.2	42.1	56.0	83.5	41.3	27.4
1996	65.0	48.6	47.1	62.7	78.0	30.9	15.3

1997	67.0	57.0	50.6	60.7	82.2	31.6	21.5
1998	65.6	46.4	50.9	64.7	77.5	26.6	12.8
1999	62.9	49.4	48.5	59.4	76.1	27.6	16.7
2000	63.3	49.7	47.8	59.5	76.9	29.2	17.4
2001	61.7	43.8	50.0	56.3	79.9	30.0	23.6

2002	65.2	56.4	51.0	60.7	78.2	27.2	17.5
2003	63.9	52.8	52.6	57.6	80.1	27.6	22.6
2004	66.7	47.8	51.4	63.3	80.1	28.7	16.8
2005	68.6	53.5	50.8	65.1	81.2	30.4	16.1
2006	66.0	50.9	54.5	61.4	80.7	26.2	19.3
2007	67.2	58.4	55.0	63.3	78.2	23.2	14.8
— Not available (due to improper head of household coding for 1974).
† Not applicable.
¹ Due to unreliable (or unstable) estimates associated with small sample sizes for the low-income category, moving average rates are also presented. These rates were generally calculated as the average of the annual rates for the following 3 adjacent years: the year in question, the year immediately before it, and the year immediately after it. For 1972, 1973, 1975, and 2007, which do not have available data for 1 of the 3 adjacent years, the moving average rate was calculated as the average of the annual rates in the 2 available adjacent years.
² Refers to the moving average rates for the low-income category.
NOTE: Includes high school completers ages 16–24, who accounted for about 98 percent of all high school completers in each year. Low income refers to the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes, high income refers to the top 20 percent of all family incomes, and middle income refers to the 60 percent in between. For more information on the CPS, educational attainment, and family income, see supplemental note 2. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October Supplement, 1972–2007.

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